Travellers between Reading and London are being warned they could face disruption until 4pm. This follows earlier problems with signals around Slough which caused delays of several hours for commuters this morning.

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Network Rail Engineers are carrying out tests on a mile-long section of cable that has had to be replaced, following a signalling problem in Slough. The incident has caused major delays for commuters travelling through Reading and Paddington.

On its website, Network Rail said there was no firm estimate yet of how long disruption will last. Like National Rail Enquiries, it says commuters are likely to experience a disrupted service until noon at the very earliest.

Signalling problems near Slough are causing major disruption to services between Reading and London Paddington.

A severely reduced service is in operation between Reading and London Paddington, and trains that are running will be delayed by up to 60 minutes.

Network Rail says First Great Western tickets will be accepted on the following routes:

South West Trains between Reading and Waterloo via any reasonable route

Chiltern Railway between Banbury and Marylebone

CrossCountry between Oxford and Reading and also Cheltenham and Birmingham New Street.

London Midland between Worcester and Birmingham New Street.

Virgin Trains between Birmingham New Street and Euston.

London Buses and London Underground via any reasonable route

First Berkshire Buses on Routes 1B/2 between Slough and Burnham; Routes 58/78 between Slough and Langley; Route 75 between Maidenhead, Burnham, Slough and Langley and Route 76 between Burnham, Slough and Langley.

National Rail Enquiries has said it expects the disruption to continue at least until midday.

Many passengers are being forced to stand for their journey Credit: Julian Jest

There is severe disruption to many services from the Thames Valley to the capital this morning. Three out of four trains into Paddington have been cancelled following signal problems on the mainline in Berkshire.

First Great Western say they have no idea when the issue will be resolved.

Tube commuters at Paddington are to be banned from getting on Bakerloo Line trains for more than a month from next week.

Credit: PA

Two escalators which carry 88,000 passengers a day are being taken out of service for essential repairs. Paddington Bakerloo Line station will be "exit only" from June 29th to August 22nd. 22,000 rail passengers from Paddington's mainline trains catch Bakerloo Line tubes during the rush hour.